


Is this love or instincts?

by MogiPrince



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alpha!Levi, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe - High School, Crushes, Friendship/Love, Good Parent Grisha, Growing Up, M/M, Omega!Eren, Omegaverse, Society Expectations, Through the Years, Unrequited Love, non-binary hanji
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-23
Updated: 2017-03-23
Packaged: 2018-08-16 20:52:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,810
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8117167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MogiPrince/pseuds/MogiPrince
Summary: Maybe it was all coincidental or maybe fate decided to be a bitch and ruin everything for him. Either way Levi was not happy with this outcome. Don’t misunderstand though, Levi didn't hate omegas, no, far from that that… He just didn’t know how to feel about his best friend, his partner in crime, being one… to say it caused a shift in their friendship is an understatement, really… He wanted to be there for Eren, he really did… but he couldn’t stop his eyes from wandering.
(in which Levi and Eren try to stay friends)





	1. Two sides of the same coin

**Author's Note:**

> asfghjkl ok,  
> i mean... it hasn't been that long since i last posted anything right?.... right?!??....  
> gosh...... the last time I posted was 4 months ago... and that was a oneshot where I promised to update more since I'm not in school (or working) anymore.... and look... no updates, surprise surprise... IM SO SORRY... really I am, I have a lot of ideas for oneshots and chaptered fanfics! like hot and sweaty bar hookups.. haha, how attractive., Honestly tho, I get most my ideas at 4 am in the morning so I tend to sleepily write down all my ideas onto the memopad on my phone and when I wake up and go look like 90% of it's along the lines of "Levi bumps into a stranger... and grinds." like what the fuck does that mean???? where's the context??? anyways, i do have some good ideas for fanfics coming soon, like here's the title for an upcoming one "Penumbra", like try and guess what the plots going to be??? here's a hint: it involves multiple universes... it's also going to be super fucking hard to write since a lot of it is based around science ;o; 
> 
> ANYWAYS, about this story in general, I must warn I'm not entirely sure if Levi and Eren will even be the end game yet, i guess it depends on what the readers will want, haha... and also since they won't actually be in an "official" relationship for a while please keep an open mind to other ships that will involve Levi and Eren but not together, I promise you I won't focus to much on other ships since that's one of my pet peeves when writing make entire side stories to other ships that don't really correlate to the plot. ALSO: THERE WILL BE MATURE THEMES

Maybe it was all coincidental or maybe fate decided to be a bitch and ruin everything for him. Either way Levi was not happy with this outcome. Don’t misunderstand though, Levi didn't hate omegas, no, far from that that… He just didn’t know how to feel about his best friend, his partner in crime, being one… to say it caused a shift in their friendship is an understatement, really… He wanted to be there for Eren, he really did… but he couldn’t stop his eyes from wandering… No, he remembers a time when he wasn’t feeling uncomfortable from the omega’s closeness… or when Eren didn’t pull away from his playful rumbles…

He first met Eren in the summer of 1998. His mom had decided it’d be better for them to move to a new province and live with his uncle Kenny in his small duplex located in a small town north of Weyburn. Which meant that everyone in the town knew each other and it wouldn’t be long till they butted into Levi’s life. His mom said it was a for a breathe of fresh air away from the bustling cities but he knew in reality she was trying to get away from his toxic father. His mother was never really able to hold down a job with her EDS so she was pretty much under the care of his father and with Levi being only a young boy there wasn’t much he could do to protect his mom from his father’s irrational behavior. He would yell and scream at Levi’s mothers for things she couldn’t control and often they were damn near starving majority of the time because of his father’s neglect and gambling issues. Eventually he knew his mom would gain the courage to pack and leave and he’s glad it was nice rather than later. Levi wasn’t sure he could get any skinnier...nor could he watch her be screamed at for intractable things.

When they had gotten to the small town of Trost, Levi didn’t expect it to be so full of children. When he heard they were moving to small town with less than 14,000 people, he figured it’d be mostly elderly couples, who were probably sent to live in a town from nearby farms, or at least mostly workers who traveled a lot like truckers. Seeing this many kids at the only park in town as they drove by somewhat intimidated Levi. He didn’t really care if they didn’t like him but truthfully he didn’t want to be isolated either. It was hard enough making friends in Montreal and that was with a population over one million… so he doubted making friends would be a walk in the park. Though… ironically his mom would say he could make friends by walking through the park… 

At his uncle’s house, which was a small pale yellow duplex that was perfectly symmetrical, much to Levi’s enjoyment (his uncle would later make fun of him for caring about such a small detail). Levi and his mom quickly settled in, being poor having its advantage since they didn’t own a lot of personal items and soon Levi was being introduced to his Uncle Kenny for the first time. He wasn’t sure what he thought of him… Kenny was… to say nicely… a dangerous, gangly looking man. But it also worked for him, giving him an almost charismatic look. Levi likes to think the man would have charmed quite a few omegas in his youth. What his uncle lacked in finesse he made up for in personality, especially with his odd admiration to old timey western movies and his poorly timed shit jokes. Honestly, Levi wasn’t very trusting of Kenny at first but his mom seemed to have a close relationship with her sibling so Levi felt like he had no choice but to let up his tense attitude… but it still pissed him off when Kenny would call him “the little gremlin”.

It was only a week before his mom got tired of Levi moping around and decided he should properly meet the other family they shared the duplex with. Apparently, much to Levi’s displeasure, his mother had met the other family already while Levi was sleeping and decided to make a “play date” with the other families children. As much as he loved his mother, he hated the idea of having a “play date” where he was forced to “play” with other children. Probably brats at that. He was seven not four. He could make his own friends. He didn’t need his mother making his friends for him. So naturally when the time came for Levi to go other to meet the other children he locked himself in his room. But apparently a closed and locked door meant nothing to Kenny as he went against all respect for privacy and unhinged Levi’s door from the doorway. That did it for Levi. Jumping from the ground and onto Kenny’s leg, Levi began biting and hitting at Kenny’s thigh in anger and frustration. Who did Kenny think he was? Taking away Levi’s door like that? That was his privacy!! Of course, when Levi said that out loud all Kenny responded with was, “What privacy!? You’re seven!! You have nothing to hide?!”.

Probably not his best first impression but definitely not his worst. As Kenny started to stumbled downstairs to the main floor, it became apparent to Levi that his mother had already invited the children and their mother into the house and that they were watching him chew on Kenny’s leg like a rabid dog. His mother sighed quietly and irritably shifted her cane while Levi and Kenny rapidly fixed themselves to look like they were at least somewhat normal. 

“Levi, dear, these two lovely kids are Mikasa and Eren Jaeger, they’re both one year younger than you so I expect you to be a good role model to them,” His mother said as she turned to smile at the older yet shorter omega woman beside her “ and this is Carla Jaeger, their mother.”  
Levi smiled tightly at them. He really didn’t know what his mom expected him to do. Just become friends with them on the spot? He could maybe tolerate them but that was asking for a lot. From what he assumed, which could always be wrong, Mikasa must have been the fairly taller girl with black hair and Asian features that didn’t appear at all in the other two. He’d ask if she was adopted but he really didn’t care. Eren, again he assumed, was the smaller boy (though he was annoyingly the same height as Levi despite being younger) with Brown curly hair and rather large curious eyes. Eyes that were both interesting to look at but made Levi weary of his unblinking stare. He’s sure that kid must not have a lot going on upstairs… Carla looked a lot like Eren but with an obvious air of womanliness. She was slightly chubby (but that’s common for most mothers in Levi’s opinion) and had a kind look to her. Levi noticed rather quickly that her eyes were a light brown instead of the greenish-blue that Eren’s were. 

“Mikasa, Eren,” the older woman said to her children, both respectfully turning to face her “Mama’s gonna go back home so I want both of you to play with Levi and be kind. Eren, Don’t make a mess and Mikasa watch Eren. I’ll be next door if you need anything. See you Kuchel and thank you for letting my children play with your Levi” 

They both nodded as she waved and turned to walk the short distance back to their door. Turning around again, they both stood awkwardly in the corridor of the house, waiting for someone to make the first move. Their awkwardness made Levi feel awkward so instead of moving towards or away from them, he tensed but before it could become anymore weird his mother quickly spoke up.  
“Well, children, maybe you should play in Levi’s room? I’m sure he’d want to show you his little magic tricks,”

Levi would not. And they weren’t magic tricks, They were illusions. But Levi didn’t want to accidentally start world war III and piss his mother off so he reluctantly sauntered upstairs with the two younger kids. He noticed as he was walking upstairs that his uncle was nowhere to be found. He probably slipped away when things got awkward. Lucky bastard.

~~~~

Turns out, Eren wasn’t as bad as Levi thought. The six year old and seven year old got along way better than either of their mother’s could really predict. They would often play for hours in their shared backyard, chasing each other or rough housing. Levi actually found himself really enjoying Eren’s company, though he couldn’t say the same for Mikasa. It wasn’t that he disliked her, she was just a bit possessive and clingy toward Eren (and also he was pretty sure she hated him). Whenever Levi would go over to Eren’s house to invite Eren over to play, Mikasa would be right behind Eren, practically glued to him. Eren said he didn’t mind and even asked Levi if she was allowed to play with them but Levi was confident Eren only let her leech off of him was because he was too sympathetic towards her (as it turned out Levi was right, she was adopted after her parent’s passed away). So more often than not, Levi and Eren’s roughhousing would quickly turn into Mikasa throwing herself in between them to fight Levi. And Levi was pretty sure she was actually trying to hurt him… 

Most of Levi’s first summer with Eren was like that. Them playing and Mikasa butting in. Levi didn’t hate it though, it actually brought a lot of entertainment (and also when he looks back on it, he feels a certain melancholic nostalgia to when things were simple). As summer ended and school started Levi made quite an impact on the grade 3 class as he was revered as a mysterious and interesting person. He was quickly accepted into the class and even made a few acquaintances such as the neighbourhood weirdo, Hanji and Erwin the big eyebrow-ed boy who looks like he just walked out of The Sound Of Music movie. Sadly Eren wasn’t in his class, being younger and all. 

Levi eventually found himself enjoying life in Trost. It was more simple than Montreal and a lot more laidback without his father yelling at them. He felt safe for once and he wanted to continue living this way for a long time. Scolding Hanji for carrying their pet worms to school, debating with Erwin over the morality of cutting said worms into two, and his horseplay with Eren after school. This went on for several more comfortable years until Levi hit the dreadful age of 12 in which he started puberty and evoked signs of becoming an alpha. These days were some of the hardest because he couldn’t control his anger all too well, especially with the combined testosterone and alpha hormones suddenly surging through his body. All too often did Levi find himself pinning Eren roughly to ground and growling into his ear during their play fights which caused Eren to stop wanting to tussle with him. Levi couldn’t control himself though, not yet at least. He was a ball of emotions, mostly negative, as he would become angry over the smallest details. Levi would start fights at school with the other newly formed alphas over omegas Levi didn’t really care about. It was hard. Erwin, who also present as an alpha seemed to be the first alpha in their 8th grade class to have full control over his actions. Hanji on the other hand became a beta just like they predicted.

Levi wasn’t too happy during those days, mostly because he was irritated at Eren for not wanting to play fight anymore but also because he STILL didn’t have a door on his fucking room and it was making it hard for him to discreetly masturbate. He had to resort to jerking it in the shower in the morning but that still didn’t seem to release any of his pent up frustrations so he continued to start fights at school which eventually led to his mother getting involved and the schools suggestion that Levi be put in the after school karate program to release his anger. His mother quickly agreed to anything that would stop Levi from stomping around the house like he owned it, starting growl sessions with Kenny in a poor attempt at domination. Being a beta, she didn’t quite understand the alpha need to dominate and own. 

Levi didn't mind the karate. He actually found himself enjoying it more everyday, especially since his frustrations started to drain. Still didn't stop the random boners though. The only downside to the karate classes was that it took up his time with Eren. The classes were 3pm to 6pm so it left Levi with not a lot of time to see Eren. Sure he saw Eren during lunch but that wasn't the same as after school classes. He'd ask Eren to join the karate class too but Eren had soon joined up an after school art program called Art and Imagination. Eren also met another boy the same age as him named Armin. Levi didn't like the sound of this Armin, mostly because he was all Eren ever wanted to talk about. It irritated Levi. He wanted Eren to only look at him and only want to play with him...


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *updates this a couple months later, haha..... I mean 7 months later. *
> 
> Sorry I haven't updated I've hit rock bottom with depression and my bipolar disorder. I've become a shut in and yet I still can't pull myself to update, bah. My biggest problem is I'm not too sure where I'm going with the story like I have the general outline but not the filling you know? BUT I forced myself to update now and I'm hoping this will be satisfactory before I get into the real alpha/omega drama ooooh

“How’s kicking ass and being angry?” Hanji asked, sitting down next to Levi on his porch. The setting sun cooling the air and making the atmosphere more melancholic than it really needed to be.

“Shut up.” Levi replied, short and cold. He was in no mood for Hanji’s pestering.

Hanji’s annoying remarks seemed to have tripled ever since Levi started karate, he couldn’t help but think it was their way of trying to lighten up to mood. It didn’t work of course. His angers been on the rise again because of Eren’s crush on Armin and no amount of knifehand striking other kids (much to the chagrin of the instructor) is helping quell that anger...

He’s not too sure where all this anger was coming from but it was definitely being caused by Eren’s infatuation with his new friend, although when Levi first called it a crush to Eren’s face for the first time Eren was quick to deny any feelings and even called Levi jealous of Armin’s “intellect”. Wrong move. Levi was not jealous. He knew 100% that it wasn’t jealousy, he was just pissed from seeing Eren act all dopey over some kid Levi never even met. How could Levi deem if the kid was a good enough fighter to play with Eren if Levi’s never even met the kid?? And from what Levi does hear he thinks this Armin might be a bit of a pansy; infecting Eren’s mind with stories from books that they both used to call boring and lame… But now when Levi would insult the books Eren would get all fussy and refuse to talk to Levi. In short, Levi was sure this Armin brat was tearing Eren away from him on purpose. He just knew it...

Of course, when Levi brought this up to Eren while he was hanging out in Eren’s basement on saturday Eren didn’t take it too well..

“What do you mean he’s a bad kid? Armin’s one of the nicest kids I’ve ever met,” Eren asked while moving one of his dolls to left side of the large map-like carpet, pretending they were going shopping. “Y’know his grandpa owns that book store on the other side of town?”

“That’s nerdy…,” Levi stumbled to get to his point when Eren gave him a dirty look “Ca….Can’t you see it Eren! He’s trying to tear us apart... Is he telling you things about me?”

“No?? He doesn’t even know you, Levi… whats with you?”

“Nothing’s with me, whats with you?”

“What??”

“Why are you so in love with him, Eren?? You’re acting like Mikasa!!” Levi flinched the moment Mikasa’s name left his mouth. It was one thing to argue with Eren, it was another to insult Mikasa. Levi kept his eyes down, shuffling awkwardly at the immediate quietness that followed after Levi’s outburst. He was afraid to see how red Eren’s face probably was, maybe he was even tearing up since he always cried when he got angry.

“And what’s wrong with being like Mikasa!!? She’s my sister and I love her! So what if she’s a bit clingy and she babies me sometimes… and eats my vegetables…. And told mom it was me who peed the bed… and.. And uh, I forgot what i was trying to say…. Anyways there's nothing wrong with her!!” Eren yelled, standing up from where he was sitting and stomping his feet. Levi looked up at Eren and was once again reminded that Eren was now a few centimetre taller than Levi. The alpha in him didn’t like that Eren was standing so close to him; challenging his domination… But Levi pushed that feeling down. The look of anger on the younger one’s face was a more important issue to Levi right now.

“Eren, I-”

“Just leave… I wanna be alone.”

And that’s why he was sitting on his porch with his head hanging low, now accompanied by a chatty Hanji who was kicking their feet back and forth and cracking their knuckles every couple of minutes.

“... And that’s why I’ll never keep my caterpillar collection in the house ever again,”

“Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.”

 

“You’re rude Levi! Rude and short!”

 

“Hey! That was uncalled for plus I’m average height for my age, everyone else is just freakishly tall.” Hanji snorted at Levi’s remark then turned to look at Levi with a bit more of a curious expression, almost borderline worried if Levi dared to assume..

“So…. What’s really been putting you on edge lately? Cause I know alpha anger can only go so far without reason.” They said, leaning in to attempt to sniff my emotions out but failing since beta’s weren’t so intuned with their instincts. I leaned away anyways in an attempt to hide my frustrations and also because I didn’t like Hanji’s smelly body close to me.

“I.. don’t know? I just get angry when I think about Eren having more fun with Armin than with me? Is this normal?” Levi looked over at the 14 year old beside him then away, slightly embarrassed for exposing himself that way to someone. Hanji just stared at Levi for a bit, evaluating the situation.

“I don’t know much about alpha things but I do know friendship and I think you’re just jealous,” They paused for second while I sputtered slightly in denial. “Jealously is a common thing in friendships, It’s nothing to be embarrassed about. Maybe you should just try to talk it out with him?”

“I tried that already! We fought and that’s why I’m out here and not with Eren.”

“Well, It’s true talking isn’t your strong point Levi.”

“Hmph,” Levi brought his hand up quickly and Hanji flinched, he softly punched them in the shoulder. “That’s for flinching.”

“Maybe you should talk to your uncle too… Just in case, cause he is an alpha and I’m sure he has more experience with this than I do.”

“Ugh I am not talking to Kenny about this, he’ll just laugh and call me a green goblin or even worse… Give me noogie.”

“Well if you don’t want to talk to your uncle, you can always talk to Erwi-” Levi cut Hanji off before they could finish.

“I am NOT talking to eyebrows about this shit, you know how embarrassing that would be? He’d give me that fake charismatic laugh he learned from his dad then proceed to pity me for not knowing something that the “all-knowing” mega alpha knows.”

“Man, you’re still pissed about Erwin dating Mary?” Hanji smirked looking over at Levi. 

Levi snorted, It wasn’t about Mary. He could give less of a shit about Mary. It was about the fact that Erwin had started dating an omega before Levi could. Not that he would but… It still made him feel lesser as an alpha that he wasn’t with anyone. Erwin had scolded him for feeling that way, saying that everyone matured differently and to take into fact that Erwin and Hanji were both a year older (Although they were all in the same grade 9 class). It still didn’t stop his lingering irritation or his wandering thoughts if Erwin was still a virgin. “I could care less, I’ll go to Kenny if it stops you from mentioning Erwin’s relationships every time we see each other. It’s bad enough we have to sit with them making out in the back during reading time.”  
Hanji agreed.

 

 

Going to Kenny took a lot more effort than Levi really thought before. He never really seeked him out before so he never cared when Kenny was gone for hours on end, whether he was at his “job” or lurking around town at odd hours it never mattered to Levi until now when he needed him most. It took Levi most of sunday morning searching over the areas Kenny usually was before he finally went to his mom for help.

“Mom.. where’s Kenny?” Levi questioned his mom as she pulled a pot of boiling pasta noodles off the stove top. 

“Hmm, I’m not really sure. He told me he was going to hang out with the guys, so he’s probably over at Ragako’s lounge then.” 

“Thanks mom!”

“Hey wait! You better not be thinking of going to that pla-” Levi had rushed out of the house before she could finish her sentence.

 

Ragako’s lounge wasn’t the prettiest bar in the city but it was the cheapest of the two so it drew a large enough crowd to keep in business. It was owned by some kid’s parents that was in the same class as Eren. The bar had a rusty look on the outside, walls brown and covered with plants growing up the side of it. It wasn’t large enough to have a bouncer or anyone watching who was coming in so it was quite easy for Levi to sneak his way in and find Kenny. Going in was easy the hard part was bringing Kenny out now. It was made 20 times harder now that Levi was aware of how drunk Kenny really was. Eventually, Levi just abandoned kenny outside on their lawn and decided to bother him for questions the next day after school and karate lessons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See you next year!  
> Just kidding, this time I swear I'll try to update quicker or at least post other oneshots I have in my head. I have a lot of ideas for plots just not the will power to write them down you know? ughh,
> 
> Anyways you can tell I rushed the ending but I really wanted to introduce Ragako's lounge as later on it will be a bit more important and also sorry its so much shorter than before I wanted to write more but it took me a long time to just write this and I'm feeling brain dead. Also also, if this isn't clear (im sorry) in the story Eren, Mikasa and Armin are 12 years old and in grade 8 (and they haven't shown signs of what secondary sex type they will have) and Levi is 13 in grade 9 and Hanji and Erwin are both 14 in grade 9. ALSO this is going by Canadian schooling system so its kindergarten to grade 6=Elementary, Grade 7 to grade 9= Junior high/middle school, and grade 10 to grade 12 high school.
> 
> Please tell me if anything is unclear or if its confusing! I'm probably going to rewrite this chapter wayyyy later on.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope it came across that Levi is going through a phase were he can't decipher his own feelings from his alpha instincts thus the sudden "eren's mine" possessiveness. ALSO sorry it seemed really rushed near the end its 5:30 am and i've been writing and planning for 4 hours. Levi's dad isnt really important which is why he was very quickly out of the picture, u probably wont hear from him again. Also grisha hasnt been introduced but hes gonna be a good dad although a lil over protective of his omega son. (Although Eren hasnt presented yet...) There wasn't a lot of dialogue in this chapter cause I was trying to set the overall setting and plot before i get into actual character interactions (which will be funner i swear)
> 
> EDIT: also I don't have a beta and I'm dyslexic so I went through this several times but if you come across a mistake please tell me!! it won't offend me, I want this story to look it's best. I'm also sorry if the whole story came off as awkward... I, myself, am awkward and I tend to ramble...
> 
> Hopefully I will be able to upload this soon and please be understanding if it takes me awhile to spew these out


End file.
